From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

The leading soldier frowned and cursed, "Useless idiots, get up now! Six men and a horse, are they really that heavy?"

"Sir, I've been waiting all night and then got beaten so badly by that 'Victorious Fighting Buddha' that I'm completely exhausted. I don't have much strength left."

The soldiers complained bitterly.

"Why not wake them up, tie them up with ropes, and let them walk on their own?"

Someone made a suggestion.

"No!"

The officer scolded, "They look strange, they might really be monsters. If we wake them up, they will use their magic, how will we survive?"

Let's carry it back.

"When dawn breaks and His Majesty attends court, we'll carry them to the main hall. With those three divine monks and the Imperial Preceptor present, we can subdue them on the spot and revert them to their original forms!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers felt it made sense, but they kept complaining in their hearts, and they really didn't have the strength to lift them.

There was nothing we could do.

The officer had to call in another twenty-six people, which was the number of the Heavenly Gang, before he could lift the large bed board again. And in order to avoid waking Jiang Liu and the others, he had to walk very carefully.

By the time they reached the city gate, it was already dawn.

Inside the palace.

When the King of Chechi awoke, he saw the Queen's long, black hair beside him and felt a pang of nostalgia. He was about to reach out and stroke it when he suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "Queen! How come you have grown hair?"

"hair?"

The queen, still half-asleep, got up, rubbed her eyes, and saw that the king's long, black hair at the back of his head was completely gone. She exclaimed in surprise, "He really has grown hair!"

"Your Majesty, while there are no outsiders in the palace, quickly shave your head, otherwise how can I pray for immortality?" the king said anxiously.

"Your Majesty, you've grown hair too!"

The queen touched her head and found it was indeed full of beautiful hair. She was first delighted, then startled, and then reached out and grabbed the king's hair.

"hiss--"

The king was pulled and felt a sharp pain. He then realized that he had grown hair. Panicked, he summoned his maids, only to find that they too had grown hair.

"Heavens! Could it be that Heaven is punishing us?"

The king was alarmed when he learned that the palace maids, eunuchs, and guards all had grown hair, and he was greatly shocked.

The queen lamented, "So many people have grown their hair; how can it be cut in time? Even if it could be cut, the hair would cover most of the palace, and His Majesty still needs to attend court. What should we do?"

"Don't rush, don't cut your hair yet. Wrap your head in cloth so that not a single hair is showing. Just get through the morning first, then we can talk about other things."

After comforting the queen, the king wrapped his hair in a piece of cloth, hoping to deceive the three royal advisors during court sessions and prevent them from thinking that he, the emperor, no longer revered Buddhism…

Chapter 1489 Riding an Ox-Cart into Jiguan Pass

The court session has just begun.

The king then realized something was wrong.

The reason was that all the civil and military officials standing on both sides of the hall were wrapped in thick cloth hats, while the three national teachers were bareheaded and had twelve ordination scars on their heads.

Hu Li sensed the strange atmosphere in the court and frowned. Just as he was about to speak, someone entered through the palace gate, knelt before the golden steps, and said, "Your Majesty! The fake monk who released the five hundred Taoist priests has been captured!"

"Oh?"

The king, noticing the three royal advisors scrutinizing his hat, grew nervous, unsure how to answer if they asked why...

Now that a way out has presented itself, how could we not change the subject?

He then said, "Bring those seven fake monks up here!"

Not long after.

Thirty-six soldiers carried up a large bed board, on which lay six strange men and a white horse, all bound in chains and snoring!

"Ha~"

Just as the civil and military officials were about to wake them, Jiang Liu opened his eyes, yawned, and spread his arms. The chains, as if made of paper, snapped open with a "crack," scattering onto the three imperial advisors.

Caught off guard, the three imperial advisors stumbled and fell before the golden steps, both shocked and furious.

After Jiang Liu woke up, Bajie, Hu Yuan, Hu Jue, Liang Luzhen, and Pingping woke up in turn, as did the white horse, which opened its eyes, circulated its energy, and transformed into human form.

Upon seeing this, all the civil and military officials were terrified and cried out:

"That's a horse demon!"

"That's a monkey monster!"

"That must be a pig demon!"

"This is definitely a wolf demon! Or it's a dog demon!"

"These two must be tigers that have become spirits!"

"That... she's probably a vixen!"

The king on the throne was also startled, but he managed to remain calm and questioned, "Where did you monsters come from? How dare you come here to seek your death?"

“We are not monsters, but cultivators who are just passing through your country on our way west.”

Jiang Liu straightened his back, bowed to the king, and said with a grin, "Your Majesty, what is the meaning of your abducting us from the inn to this place without any explanation?"

Seeing that he was more polite than the three imperial advisors, the civil and military officials were no longer so afraid.

The king was no longer afraid and asked, "You have disturbed the monks and officials of the temple and abducted those five hundred Taoist priests. What is the meaning of this?"

Someone come here!

Drag them away and behead them!

"Wait a minute!"

Jiang Liu shouted, which made the soldiers who had surrounded him tremble and actually stop in their tracks. He then said to the king, "The ancients said: 'To catch a man, catch him red-handed.' Since you say that we disturbed the monks and abducted five hundred Taoist priests, do you have any evidence? If you decide our life or death with just one sentence, then what difference is there between Your Majesty and a beast?"

The implied meaning.

If the king wants to act like a beast, then they can only treat him with the "etiquette" due to beasts.

The king was already indignant because of his long hair, and now that Jiang Liu was questioning him and openly calling him a beast, he was even more furious.

But just now, the monkey broke free of its chains and shouted at the soldiers with a voice as loud as thunder, which startled him and made him tremble with fear, but also made him angry.

Seeing that the three national advisors remained silent, seemingly very wary of the monkey demon, he stopped mentioning dragging them out and killing them.

But what should we do now?

Just then.

Someone else came to report from outside the door.

"Your Majesty! The princess has arrived at the palace riding a blue ox!"

"what?"

The king was clearly stunned for a moment, but before he could recover, he saw the princess riding a blue ox, pushing aside the soldiers blocking the way, and crashing straight into the three royal advisors.

"boom!"

The three demons, Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Tiger Power, were horrified and quickly jumped aside.

The blue ox crashed into the wall, knocking down the supporting pillar. The nearby civil and military officials, guards, and palace maids were terrified and hurriedly fled, all of them trembling with fear.

"Beast!"

Enraged, Huli chanted a curse and transformed into a sixteen-foot-tall body, entirely golden, with a tiger's head. He grabbed the ox's tail, yanked it off the wall, and flung it outside the hall.

The princess was thrown off the ox's back and was about to hit her head against the wall when Jiang Liu caught her head with one hand and landed steadily without getting hurt.

The blue ox rolled several times on the ground before finally getting up, its nostrils flaring, its front hooves pounding the ground, and the crescent-shaped horn on its head flashing with lightning—it still refused to admit defeat!

"Who do we have here? It's that old crane's pet unicorn!"

Bajie stared intently and recognized the blue ox. He laughed heartily, hoisted his rake, and pressed it against the ox's horns, shouting, "How dare you be so rude! What kind of place is this? How dare you, a mountain king, act so arrogantly in the palace?"

The blue ox was still fuming, but unable to speak, and having lost its former treasure, it could only stop in its tracks, yet it still stared intently at the tiger!

"Oh! So you're all in cahoots!"

Seeing this, Tiger Power's eyes were full of joy, but his face was filled with uncontrollable rage. He dispersed his sixteen-foot-tall body and returned to human form, saying to the king, "Your Majesty, please send troops to capture them!"

Based on his understanding of this monkey, even if it became some kind of chosen one, it would still have rules to follow. How could it dare to attack the soldiers and generals of a nation?

If he makes a move, he's either a monster or a demon!

"Wait a minute!"

Seeing that the king had actually given the order, Jiang Liu let out another soft shout, which was like thunder in the ears, leaving his soldiers stunned on the spot. He said to the king, "Your Majesty, I saved your daughter, and my junior brother stopped that blue ox from going mad and protected your palace. It would be fine if you didn't reward us with ten thousand taels of gold, but why do you still want to arrest us? What is the reason for this?"

The king said, “Three months ago, the blue ox came to my country of Chechi, ate the crops, knocked over the orange trees, and demanded that every household offer oranges, which frightened the people of the country.”

Fortunately, three national advisors came and subdued the blue ox, turning it back to its original form and tying it to the outside of its spine.

"If the green ox listens to your junior brother, aren't you all in cahoots?"

“Your Majesty’s words are reasonable, and I have nothing to say. But we are all in cahoots. My junior brother persuaded the ox and prevented the palace from suffering disaster. Isn’t that a great achievement?”

Faced with these words, the king opened his mouth, unsure how to respond.

Jiang Liu then asked, "Did this ox injure anyone?"

"But it never has."

The king had no choice but to answer truthfully.

"So what if they just ate crops, knocked over orange trees, and intimidated neighbors? The punishment should only be financial compensation. Why should they pay with their lives?"

Jiang Liu asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, you must not trust him!"

Tiger was furious and advised the king.

The Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas merely echoed and bowed in agreement.

But the king remained silent once again.